Evening ceremony for Taree's Australia Day celebrations

There'll be no morning awards ceremony on the riverbank next January 26. Taree Australia Day organising committee Rhonda Futterleib explained this is due to funding cuts.

Taree Rotary, Lions and Quota clubs will again band together to organise the celebrations.

"National Australia Day Council has given us a grant of $15,000. However, we applied to council for $10,000 but have only been offered free advertising on the Barrington Coast event page,'' Mrs Futterleib said.

Council has also decided to shift the citizenship ceremony to the new Forster Civic Centre after it had been a regular feature of the Taree function. Traditionally the Taree celebration was held in the morning, starting with a free breakfast followed by the community award ceremony. For the past two years a free concert has been held on the RiverStage in the evening.

"At our first meeting we agreed the format had to change, so there will be no morning ceremony,'' Mrs Futterleib said.

The committee had decided to run cultural activities and markets from 3pm to 6pm on the riverbank, including international dance groups, Indigenous art and craft activities and artisan markets.

"From 6pm to 9pm we will have entertainment on the Riverstage,'' Mrs Futterleib said.

"This will incorporate the Australia Day Ceremony and presentation of the Australia Day Citizen awards - citizen of year, junior citizen of the year, volunteer sportsperson and community group of the year.''

Nominations for these awards will be available in the next couple of weeks online via the Club Taree website or application forms from Centrepoint Cafe or Essential Tax and Accounting in Pulteney St Taree.

"We are going to have specific entertainment for kids starting at 6pm and then after the ceremony a couple of bands till 9pm,'' Mrs Futterleib said.

"Instead of a free breakfast we will be providing free sausage sandwiches for dinner.''

Organisers again hope to finish the evening with a fireworks display, however, this will cost $15,500.

"We will have to get donations to fund these,'' Mrs Futterleib said.

"We already have $1000 so obviously we need more. If 30 people or businesses donated $500 each towards cost this it can happen.''

Anyone interested in donating contact Mrs Futterleib on 6539 5300 during office hours. However, there is a deadline. "Will need to have funds raised by mid-November,'' she said.''

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